Vipava Geburtshaus Sebastian Krelj 15092007 69

Sebastian Krelj, also known as Sebastjan Krelj, Sebastijan Krelj or Boštjan Krelj (1538 – 25 December 1567) was a Slovene

Protestant reformer Protestant Reformers were those theologians whose careers, works and actions brought about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. In the context of the Reformation, Martin Luther was the first reformer (sharing his views publicly in 15 ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, pastor,

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and preacher and regarded as one of the most educated Slovene Protestants of the 16th century.

Life and work

Krelj was born in

Vipava Vipava can refer to: * Vipava, Vipava, town in southwestern Slovenia * Vipava (river), in Slovenia and Italy * Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Li ...

, then part of the

Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola ( sl, Vojvodina Kranjska, german: Herzogtum Krain, hu, Krajna) was an imperial estate of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A ...

. He studied at

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

and became a follower of the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

preacher and writer

Primož Trubar Primož Trubar or Primus Truber () (1508 – 28 June 1586) was a Slovene Protestant Reformer of the Lutheran tradition, mostly known as the author of the first Slovene language printed book, the founder and the first superintendent of the Pro ...

, the leader of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

in the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( sl, Slovenske dežele or in short ) is the historical denomination for the territories in Central and Southern Europe where people primarily spoke Slovene. The Slovene lands were part of the Illyrian provin ...

, whom he assisted as a preacher in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

. In 1565, he became

superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

of the Carniolan Protestant Church in Ljubljana. Already at the time of assuming the position, he was suffering from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

and on Christmas two years later died from it, leaving behind a widow and a child. Krelj had a wide linguistic and philologic knowledge: besides Slovene,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, he knew

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, Croatian and

Glagolitic The Glagolitic script (, , ''glagolitsa'') is the oldest known Slavic alphabet. It is generally agreed to have been created in the 9th century by Saint Cyril, a monk from Thessalonica. He and his brother Saint Methodius were sent by the Byzan ...

literature. Krelj put the central dialect into context of dialects spoken by Istrians, the inhabitants of the

Vipava Valley The Vipava Valley (; sl, Vipavska dolina, german: Wippachtal, it, Valle del Vipacco) is a valley in the Slovenian Littoral, roughly between the village of Podnanos to the east and the border with Italy to the west. The main towns are Ajdovš ...

and

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the n ...

ns. He introduced some changes to the Latin script originally adopted by Trubar from the German. He consistently differentiated the phonemes /s/ /z/ /t͡s/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /t͡ʃ/ /t͡ɕ/ /ə/ (written by Krelj as ', modern orthography '). His reforms were taken up by

Jurij Dalmatin Jurij Dalmatin ( – 31 August 1589) was a Slovene Lutheran minister, reformer, writer and translator. He translated the complete Bible into Slovene. Life Born in Krško, Dalmatin came from a Dalmatian family. Until the age of 18, he studied ...

in the first translation of the entire Bible to the Slovene.Logar, Janez. 1932. "Krelj, Sebastijan." In: Franc Ksaver Lukman et al. (eds.), ''Slovenski biografski leksikon'', vol. 4, ''Kocen–Lužar''. Ljubljana: Zadružna gospodarska banka. In 1583, they were codified by

Adam Bohorič Adam Bohorič () ( – after 20 November 1598) was a Slovene Protestant preacher, teacher and author of the first grammar of Slovene. Bohorič was born in the market town of Reichenburg in the Duchy of Styria (now Brestanica in Slov ...

in his grammar book .

References

1538 births 1567 deaths 16th-century Carniolan writers 16th-century linguists 16th-century Lutheran clergy Carniolan philologists Carniolan Lutherans Slovenian Lutheran clergy Protestant Reformers Translators of the Bible into Slovene People from Vipava, Vipava University of Jena alumni 16th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Slovenia {{bible-translator-stub